Trust as a Key Factor in Shaping the Social Business Model of Water Supply Companies

Abstract

The current principles of doing business differ radically from those that were applied a few years ago. Global economic crises have shown that business must have a more social character. This gave rise to the creation of management solutions that would guarantee the satisfaction of a wide range of corporate stakeholders. In this context, ideas based on social potential began to emerge. As a consequence, the concept of social business models was born, accompanied by an attempt to search for the best business models possible in order to build the appropriate configuration of their components. According to the authors, an attribute of trust may be such a component based on which effective social business models can be built. As water supply companies are social enterprises, they have become the object of scientific research in this case. The purpose of the article is to determine the position of trust in the construction and application of social business models of water supply companies. The scope of the article includes scientific research into water supply companies in the most industrial region of Poland, Upper Silesia, with the most extensive and dense water supply network in the country. In this article, the AHP (analytic hierarchy process) method was used to conduct research. The aim of the analysis was focusing on the issue of trust as a key factor in shaping the social business model of the company. In the questionnaires, respondents were asked to answer questions on the following issues: trust-based organizational behavior at the company; trust-based social capital at the company; trust-based relationships at the company; trust-based processes and activities at the company; trust-based risk at the company; and the trust-based business model at the company. The adopted logic of the scientific argument conducted indicates that trust and its place and role in the social business model of a water supply company have a significant impact on the social and economic performance of the water supply company, and as a consequence, on increased social responsibility towards stakeholders as well. Trust even stabilizes the organization and its business model; it is also a value catalyst and neutralizes the potentially negative impact of the organization on other entities gathered around it. Trust as a stabilizer can also affect the consistency and scalability of the social business model of a water supply company.